Yup. We are insidious. 
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Dear Diary,
Today, I learned another synonym for the word ācold.ā
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Nah, weāre cool.
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Gun ownership class USA style.
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Having fired an M60 āback in the dayāā¦yeah, that doesnāt really happen.
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Also thisā¦
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Did you miss me?
I guess not!
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Thank you for educating me! The more I learn about American society, the worse it seems, especially for black and brown people.
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When was that written? First encountered armed guards and checkpoints in school in '95. Which is a pain when you have to go to the bathroom because you have a medical condition where you have to go to the bathroom.
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Yeah, itās pretty fucked up around here. I mean, itās not all bad, but weāve got some major issues we need to face head on, that we just seem unable to. But to be fair to us (US), thatās not unique.
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I think what is unique is that we are such a rich and powerful first world, western country, and yet we still have such huge problems. The problem (as I see it) is that large portions of the electorate are still surprisingly backward (and proud of it).
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You think? I donāt know if I agreeā¦I kind of feel like itās a bit of American exceptionalism at play there. Itās not like other first world countries in Europe arenāt also dealing with the fall out from their empires, despite also being pretty rich and developed in terms of their economy. Itās true that many other countries have gun issues dealt with (unlike us) and also health care, but then again, thereās Brexit, the refugee problems in Australia, France has seen a major resurgence of their right wingā¦ I think the problems we have are probably much more universal than we like to think.
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I guess I was thinking specifically about gun control and health care, but I think the extent of anti-intellectualism, denial of science, and religious fervor are especially strong in the US. Added to this are the cults of pioneer spirit and individualism that gets in the way of so many social solutions to problems.
Perhaps its a matter of degree rather than kind. I must admit that I havenāt really studied the matter; itās just what Iāve absorbed from the news.
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If we look at the U.S. as a racist occupation project, like South Africa, and as part of the far far east, like Russian Siberia, it fits the pattern a bit better. The Bering Strait is not that big. We should be digging a Chunnel under it, really.
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Thatās an interesting comparison.
My tendency has been to think of the US as having a mix of first and third world features, or on the whole fitting in better with the BRIC countries, which I guess are sometimes BRICS. And while India is complicated, the USA, Russia, China, and South Africa do all very obviously originate from large occupations by one people of others.
But on the other hand, so do Canada and Australia ā which are not without serious problems but I get the impression are not quite so far from western Europe in them. At least they didnāt screw up guns, health care, and military spending quite so thoroughly.
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Weāre big enough to be a labor and resource supplier to be held under the thumb since forever, but culturally linked to to old aristocracy. The aristocracy is the old enemy, after the monarchy. Idiot tyrant for lyfe is coming back.
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Australia did screw up guns, but they fixed it. I expect South Africa could fix its gun problem, too. As could pretty much the whole world. Except, of course, the US. I guess thatās what makes this country āexceptionalā.
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Never forget that the acronym was devised by investment bankers.
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